CHARLESTON -- Host Charleston fell 7-0 to Blytheville (Ark.) in the inaugural game of the Mississippi County Wood Bat Tournament on Friday at Hillhouse Park.
The Bluejays (3-9) managed only two basehits against the Blytheville pitching duo of Kyle Thaxton and Tim Betts.
"We've got to get more than five baserunners (actually seven) and you can't score runs if you only get two hits in the ballgame," said Charleston coach Chris Stanfield.
Blytheville (11-15) scored two in the first inning, but a Charleston misplay and an error compounded the damage.
The Chickasaw leadoff hitter Cal Rose, aboard on a walk, attempted to take an extra base on Thaxton's single to left field. The throw-in from Bluejay left fielder Paul Johnson to third base was in plenty of time to nail the baserunner, but Rose somehow danced around the tag and later scored on a one-out RBI single by Matt Huffman.
Thaxton scored on a suicide squeeze bunt that was mishandled.
In the top of the second, Blytheville plated three more runs. A walk, a wild pitch, a hit batsman and an error loaded the bases ahead of Thaxton's RBI single.
With the bases still jammed, another run crossed on a fielder's choice grounder and a third on Huffman's second RBI single to run the score to 5-0.
"Everything they scored was on a free baserunner, whether it be an error, a walk or hit by a pitch," said Stanfield. "Against good teams, you can't do that."
Charleston mounted its most serious threat in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with one out. But a strikeout and flyout ended the inning. The Bluejays stranded two more baserunners in the third, then went down in order in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. A two-out walk represented their only other baserunner in the sixth.
Blytheville tacked on its final two runs in the top of the sixth.
Betts was hit by a pitch with one out. Pinchrunner Jeremy Reed then motored to third on Russell Osipuk's bloop double over first base and came home on Rose's sacrifice fly.
Osipuk reached third on a wild pitch and scored on Thaxton's single.
Huffman led Blytheville's nine-hit offense with a perfect 4-for-4 day with two RBIs while Thaxton went 3-for-4, also with a pair of RBIs.
"We put the bat on the ball a few times," said Blytheville coach Roger Rico. "It's a different ballgame with those wood bats. Some of those balls would have gone a lot farther with aluminum bats.
"I thought our kids handled it well. They (Charleston) played good, too, but we hit the ball early and rattled their pitcher a little bit and that was the difference."
Rico was especially pleased with his team's errorless defensive effort which included a nice diving stop and unassisted putout by first baseman Huffman and a nice running catch by left fielder Mike Arriola.
Said Rico, "I thought our defense played real well. We made every play today and it hasn't been like that all year, so I was real happy with our defense."
Johnson's bunt single and freshman Chase McClendon's opposite-field single accounted for the Bluejays two-hit offense.
Left-hander Tyler McCann, who went the distance for the Bluejays, took the loss. He struck out three, walked two and hit two batters.
"The wood bats pretty much equalized everything today," added Stanfield. "Give them credit. They put it in play and took advantage of what we gave them."
Charleston played the loser of the nightcap, Dyersburg (Tenn.) vs. West County, on Saturday at 9 a.m. at East Prairie.
Blytheville played the winner of that matchup, also on Saturday at Hillhouse Park in Charleston.